The Moncton Wildcats are wounded and playing wildly uncharacteristic.
Sunday’s second period versus the Halifax Mooseheads spiralled out of the control just like the Wildcats discipline which is incredibly uncharacteristic of a “Gardiner MacDougall coached team.” Obviously, anything can happen in Major Junior hockey and Sunday’s performance by the Cats is clearly indicative of that. The march to the box proved as costly as the mistakes. The customary Wildcat surge and push back arrived in the 3rd period, but that still wasn’t enough. As for the wounded, well let’s just put it this way, the long-awaited return of Caleb Desnoyers was sadly short lived when the star forward collided with Moosehead player and didn’t return to the game. The entire fanbase now hold their collective breath to see if he’s going ok or if he’s going to be out long term and with that the phrase “with adversity comes opportunity,” comes to mind.
The Wildcats depth is undoubtedly going to be tested, and those depth players are now going to be thrust into a position that is uncustomary to say the least. The Wildcats fourth liners and depth defenders haven’t seen a ton of ice lately. Sure, they might have been in the lineup, but their TOI has been limited especially since the first few games while some players were away at NHL camps.
Being thrust into a situation you’re not used to is a monumental test for anyone, but the next few games is where the Wildcats coaching staff could prove to be the real difference makers. A depleted lineup is where some coaches can work their magic, but with that being said the Cats are missing some big pieces right now as they look ahead to facing the Saint John Sea Dogs on the road on Sunday.
Teddy Mutryn, Grayden Robertson-Palmer and Tommy Bleyl are all out with injuries right now and Carl-Otto Magnusson is out with a one game suspension for his cross-check major and match penalty. If Desnoyers can’t return for Sunday’s tilt versus the Sea Dogs that leaves another gapping hole in their lineup. The Wildcats have looked solid and they have looked uncharacteristically average this season, but that’s a normal occurrence for a team and group learning and finding their way early on in a season, but as written before it’s the tendencies that could prove concerning. One trend is the Wildcats undisciplined play which seemingly continues to deflate any flow the team can muster. Another tendency that is appearing with this group is that lack of intensity and consistency over a 60-minutes. Sunday’s game was the perfect example of this. We haven’t seen a MacDougall coached Cats team take their foot off the peddle before which is wildly uncharacteristic.
Again, we have to look at the complete body of work, and that takes us back to last year. Of course there were some lulls last season, but their sheer depth of talent could salvage games and momentum, but that certainly hasn’t been the case this season and that’s only going to be tested moving forward if the aforementioned injured players miss even more time.
Every team or group is different, and the Wildcats are only 12 games into the 2025-26 season, but the schedule doesn’t stop, and the next few road games are the first of many tests that the group will face this season. As I’ve written before, this years Wildcats team was going to be judged on a “before Desnoyers return” and “after Desnoyers return” from injury and “pre and post Christmas Trade Period” scenario, but this next stretch of games will no doubt reveal a lot about the players and coaching staff and how they adjust and adapt to this early season adversity.
With adversity comes opportunity. Adversity also reveals character and we are definitely going to see how the Wildcats from top to bottom respond.
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